


Space: Where mundane and dangerous coincide

by suluismyspirit



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Light Angst, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 07:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8318782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suluismyspirit/pseuds/suluismyspirit
Summary: A completely normal mission goes a bit sideways.





	

It had been a quiet week. Things were running smoothly, with the occasional hectic away mission. For the bridge crew, however, it was close to being dull. They enterprise had just resupplied two days ago, it had been an enjoyable break for everyone, and were currently heading out into an uncharted section of the quadrant. The atmosphere on the bridge was relaxed, this was federation territory and they had a clear path to their destination. Sulu barely had to monitor the helm.

Kirk was settled in his chair, reading something with an apple in one hand, Spock was going back and forth between his station and one of a new science officer who appeared to be having some trouble with something. Sulu sat laughing as Chekov recounted some story from old Russia, the navigator turned half way round as he gestured animatedly with his hands. The teen was getting to the height of the story, Kirk smirking as he looked up from his data pad, and even Spock had paused to listen to the ending. 

"And ZHAT ees how a little old lady from Leningrad helped to found zhe federation." He exclaimed, chin lifted triumphantly, glancing between them all with and expectant look on his face. Kirk was the first to break the silence, knowing without looking that Sulu would be wearing the widest smirk on his face. “You know that’s definitely a part of history I’ve never heard before.” 

Sulu let out a choked off laugh before turning his chair to face Chekov. He grinned wickedly at the Russian briefly, the glanced over at Kirk. “You should ask him apple pie came from. Now _that_ story is funny.” Chekov flushed a bit at that, turning back to his console and muttering in Russian. Kirk threw back his head, laughing. “It ees not funny it ees true.” Chekov insisted stubbornly, though he was smiling slightly.

There was a sudden jolt, the ship jerking violently to the left, Sulu crashing heavily against the console and then Chekov’s chair. Chekov was the only one to stay in his seat, cursing violently as the turbulence continued. The ships alarms were screaming, red lights flashing in an automatic red alert as a few cracks ran up one wall. Chekov glanced down at Sulu’s still body pressed against his foot, wanting desperately to check on his friend. But the enterprise was somehow _still_ at warp, tumbling too fast through space. “Bridge to sickbay, ve hawe a medical emergency on the bridge.” He managed to get out as he typed quickly on the panel. He could feel Sulu’s blood soaking through his boot, and he struggled not to panic. He transferred helm control to his station, dropping them out of warp before he began to try and stabilize the rest of the systems.

”What the hell happened?” Kirk’s voice sounded rough as he woke, though he’d only been out for about thirty seconds. He struggle to stand as the ship continued to shake, looking around at the chaos on the bridge. The red alert was still active, and most of the crew were picking themselves up.

“Ve hawe been heet by some kind of energy vave keptain.” The navigator reported after a moment looking at some readings, voice thick. Kirk looked up at that, both surprised it was Chekov who’d answered and alarmed at the tone. The Russian sounded on the verge of tears, barely holding it together. Jim saw the reason for his distress immediately. Sulu was lying right against Chekov’s feet, a pool of blood growing beneath him, and he wasn’t moving. 

Kirk moved forward, pulling out his communicator as he knelt next to the pilot. “Bones, I need you up on the bridge. Now.” He barked shortly, reaching down to check Sulu.

”Keptain?” Pavel questioned, voice breaking slightly though he continued working. 

”He’s alive.” Kirk responded quickly. “Status?”

Chekov sighed lightly at that, glad his friend wasn’t dead or dying at his feet. “Zhe vave came out of novhere sir, sensors deedn’t ewen detect eet.” He explained shortly. “Hull integrity is minimal, but zhere are no breaches. Zhere are reports of eenjuries on all decks, four fatalities so far…” He trailed off, refusing to look down at the Asian, not even wanting to acknowledge that he could be added to that number. He continued after taking a breath. “I have stabilized zhe ship sir, zhough I do not know vhere ve have ended up.”

”Well, that’s just- BONES!” Kirk called out as McCoy entered the bridge, medical kit in hand. 

”I heard you the first time you called me up here, was it necessary to say it twice.” He complained, pausing to check on the still unconscious Vulcan laying a few feet away from the lift.

Kirk didn’t say anything, his attention focused on the pilot for a moment before he looked up at McCoy. “Bones he’s not breathing.”

McCoy jerked up at those words, eyes flickering to Sulu’s still form for a half second before he bolted over, sliding to a stop and pulling out a medical tricorder, passing it over the pilot quickly. “He’s breathing it’s just shallow.” McCoy stated, able to all but feel how those words drained the sudden tension from Chekov’s form. Leonard carefully moved Sulu, shifting him to lay flat. There was a large gash on his forehead, most of the blood was coming from there, though his neck and shoulder were scraped up as well.  
  
”I need to get him to sickbay, now. There’s a hairline fracture on his vertebrae, so moving him’s gonna be tricky.” McCoy state, pulling out a hypo and injecting it into the undamaged side of Sulu’s neck. The doctor’s brow was furrowed, worry evident on his face. 

”I can help vith zhat.” Chekov volunteered, anything to help Sulu right now.

McCoy looked up at him doubtfully. “You think you can carry him?”

”Don’t worry Bones, he’s stronger than he looks.” Kirk reassured, looking over to another ensign and nodding at her to take Chekov’s station. He stood up, making room for Chekov to move over to assist McCoy.

”Alright kid, let’s be quick about this. I got him stable for now, but he needs surgery.” McCoy stated, shifting to kneel on the opposite side of Sulu. “Now you’re gonna have to lift him up slowly while I stabilize his neck, move it too much we might break somethin.” He warned, giving Chekov a stern look. McCoy would much rather of had one of the medical staff here to help instead of a seventeen year old kid, but unfortunately, they were spread a bit thin. 

Chekov nodded nervously at the doctor’s intense glare, but he was determined to do this. He would _not_ let anything happen to Sulu. Not if he could help it.  
McCoy shifted Sulu into Chekov’s grip, keeping the pilots head still as the Russian stood slowly. “Easy now.” McCoy muttered, nodding his head to indicate that Chekov should start moving. It was a short walk to the lift, though it felt like an eternity at the pace they were moving, but Leonard didn’t dare try to move faster. He hadn’t been kidding about the dangers. 

It felt surreal to Chekov, watching McCoy deftly press the button on the lift, the doctor’s attention mainly focused on Sulu. The pilot was breathing so shallowly that Chekov could hardly feel it, even with the man so close. If Bones hadn’t looked so calm, his attention riveted on Sulu, the Russian might have panicked. Instead he did like the doctor had ordered, kept his friend as still as possible.

“Eto moya vina.” Chekov murmured in Russian. “I shouldn’t have distracted him.” He explained when McCoy gave him an odd look. Not that an undistracted Sulu would have been able to avoid whatever kind of energy it was that had hit them. But Chekov still felt guilty. 

”Beat yourself up later kid,” McCoy said gruffly, frowning down at Sulu and moving forward as the doors opened. “Concentrate on not moving him too much and move.” McCoy didn’t have time to pander to the kid’s guilt complex, and it was apparent he hadn’t really been paying attention to what exactly Chekov had been saying. Not that Pavel exactly caught onto that, but he did stopped talking and started moving as McCoy said.

The corridors were empty, but the moment they stepped into sickbay it was like a sea of chaos. Everyone was busy, nearly ever bed was full. “Make some space.” McCoy snapped out roughly, making sure the bustle of nurses and injured kept from jostling Chekov.

He led the way to surgery, calling a couple nurses over as he went. “Put him on the bed. _Carefully._ ” he instructed Chekov, keeping a sharp eye on Sulu’s condition. The pilot was beginning to struggle breathing and the bleeding had started again. “Damn it…” McCoy cursed, pushing Chekov back and out of the way after Sulu was settled. 

The Russian backed away, face pale as Bones started barking out orders to the nurses. He might not be able to understand even half of the medical jargon being thrown around, but he knew it wasn’t good given how the doctor sounded. One of the nurses took a moment to shoo him out, and he mindlessly went. 

He stopped right outside the doors, leaning back against the wall listlessly. The sight of Sulu’s still body, the feeling of the pilot’s blood still on Chekov’s shoes… And the distress in McCoy’s voice as he’d lay Sulu down had been obvious. Chekov tilted his head back, closing his eyes and swallowing thickly. He really didn’t know what he would do without Sulu.

”Net.” He said resolutely, falling back into Russian without even realizing. He would not accept that anything would happen to Sulu. He would be fine, he _had_ to be. He stood up straight, taking a deep breath. He wasn’t of any use here, he was just in the way and there were far too many in need of a doctor’s attention for him to be taking up much needed space.

His communicator chirped at him and when he opened it Kirk’s voice came through. “Chekov, you got Sulu to sickbay yet?”

”Yes Keptain. Doctor McCoy is with him now.” He responded.

”Good, I need you down in engineering. Scotty’s having some trouble with the warp core and he’s short-handed.” 

”Of course Keptain, right avay.” He closed the communicator, looking once more back at the closed doors of surgery. Much as he didn’t want to leave, he knew he could do nothing else for Sulu, and orders were orders. There was a crisis to deal with.

~later~

McCoy stepped away from Sulu, letting out a short sigh. The pilot was stable, but still out cold. Bones had done his best, but it would take time to see if there had been any lasting damage and they wouldn’t know until Sulu woke up. 

”Keep an eye on him and call me if he wakes up.” He ordered on of the nurses, walking out to deal with the other injured crew in his sickbay. They’d thinned out by now, only the worse cases still remaining. He got to work, patching them up and either telling them to stay or leave depending. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he noticed Chekov. The Russian was sticking to the wall close to the door, this unsure look on his face. “You gonna stand there all day like a bump on a log? What do ya want?” he snipped irritably.

Chekov twitched a little, but moved forward anyway, trailing after McCoy as he finished up with his current patient and moved over to organize some hypos for the next batch. He was nervous to ask, though whether it was because he didn’t want to hear the answer or because he didn’t want to disturb the doctor more than he already had, he wasn’t sure. 

He must have hesitated too long, because Bones turned around crossing his arms and huffing in annoyance. “Chekov, I’m busier than a one-legged cat in a sandbox so whatever it is you want, spit it out.” 

”Sulu sir, is he…” Chekov trailed off, unable to continue.

McCoy sighed, running a hand over his face. Of course, why else would Chekov still be here. Had he been here the whole time? Leonard shook those thought away, focusing on the Russian in front of him. “He’s stable.” He said, gentler this time, his own kind of apology and the closest Chekov would get to one. “He hasn’t woken up yet, which is concerning.” He pressed his lips together, half shaking his head and looking over to the room Sulu was currently in. “Look kid, there’s nothing else you can do for him right now.”

Chekov nodded, knowing the doctor was right. “Could I…” About to ask if he could see Sulu, even if his friend was unconscious, he was cut off as the ship was jolted again, though this time not _nearly_ as violently, both Chekov and McCoy stumbling a few steps. The lights flickered twice, then went out.

 

**On the Bridge**  
Kirk looked over as the doors closed behind McCoy and Chekov, shoving down the worry over Sulu. Seeing Spock now getting to his feet, the captain made his way over to help, the rest of the bridge crew were already working to get the ship back in working order. Spock had wordlessly watched the trio walk past, and gratefully accepted Kirk’s help in standing as he regained his equilibrium

”You alright Spock?” Kirk asked, glancing at the slight cxt on Spock’s head. 

”I am functioning well enough.” The Vulcan replied, knowing it was true enough even if he did feel a little off. There were obviously more pressing matters for doctor McCoy to deal with, however, and Spock knew his own condition was not severe enough to warrant pulling the doctors attentions from more critical patients.

”Good to hear.” Kirk said, grinning slightly at the peculiar way Spock spoke and clapping him on the shoulder. The captain sobered quickly though, looking around at the mess on the bridge. “We need to find out exactly what happened.” He told Spock. The Vulcan was a science officer and would likely be able to provide him with more details as to _what_ that energy was and where it had come from. 

Spock nodded an affirmative, turning to his station. Kirk left him to it, moving back over to the chair to look through reports coming in. “Send word to StarBase 32 that’ll well be heading back for repairs. I don’t like the look of the hull damage report.” He said, looking over at the communications officer briefly.

It was just like Chekov had said earlier, there were no hull breaches, but the integrity of the ship was very low. Initial reports weren’t all that certain about if they could achieve warp speed, and if they could how long they’d be able to sustain it. 

”Engineering to the bridge,” Scotty’s voice came over the intercom, the man half shouting and a sounding extremely stressed. “Kirk, we’ve got some problems down here, the warp core is starting ta overheat, whatever just happened has fractured some of the cooling vents and I’ve got too many hands out of commission.”

”I hear you Scotty, do what you can I’ll send you some help.” Kirk responded, snapping his fingers at one of the lieutenants and waving them toward a panel. “Get whoever you can down there.” He ordered before opening a communication with Chekov.

”Chekov you got Sulu to sickbay yet?” he asked, though to be honest the fact that the Russian had his hands free to respond was an answer in and of itself. 

”Yes Keptain, McCoy is with him now.”

Kirk took a moment to be relieved at that. Bones was the best doctor he knew, Sulu was in good hands there. “Good, I need you down in engineering.” He ordered, much as he _knew_ Chekov would want to stay in sickbay with Sulu. “Scotty’s having some trouble with the warp core and he’s short-handed.”

”Of course Keptain, right avay.” 

Kirk smiled, trust Chekov to be willing to help even as his best friend was hurt. Jim could admit, if only to himself, that he probably would have been a lot less amiable to leaving a friend in that condition. 

Chekov had done an admiral job getting the ships systems back up and running, but there was still quite a bit of work to be done. “Sir.” The communications officers said, gaining his attention. “Base 32 has responded, they’ll be expecting us and ask if we need assistance.”

Kirk glanced down once more at the reports thinking quickly. “Tell them we should be able to make it back on our own, but have assistance standing by. Just in case.” That taken care of Kirk turned his attention towards getting the rest of the ship and crew back in working order.

~later~

With the warp core sorted out, the enterprise was on her way back to the base for repairs. Their exploration mission would have to wait a few weeks.  
“Spock, what have we got?” Kirk asked, hopping up energetically from his seat and moving over to stand by the Vulcan. Spock had had plenty of time by now to figure out what had happened.

Spock turned from the panel, though he remained in his seat. His head was aching, and he knew he would likely need to visit the sickbay in the near future. “The energy that collided with the ship does not match any that Starfleet has on record. Sensors have recorded it and detect that it came from the nearby section of space we were sent to explore.” He paused for a moment, looking over at the panel as it beeped, a line of script appearing. “…it appears there is a second wave incoming, likely an aftershock of the first.”

Kirk frowned, leaning forward to look at the readings as well. “Drop us out of warp. All stop.” He ordered helm before turning back to Spock. “How long we got?”

”Precisely one minutes six seconds until impact. Now that we are no longer in motion, I believe the energy will have less effect on the ship.” Spock advised.

That was the best news he’d heard so far. “Shields up. Brace for impact.” Kirk said calmly, walking over to sit in his chair. 

Just as Spock had said, the second wave barely jostled the ship in comparison, though Kirk did worry slightly over it due to the already compromised hull integrity. He glanced at the ensign at navigation, but she didn’t report any breaches, so he relaxed. A moment later however, the lights flickered a couple times before blacking out completely.  
Kirk put his face in one hand, rubbing roughly before looking up. They were in federation territory, no one was attacking them, and yet the ship was barely holding herself together. “What happen this time?” he asked wearily as the backup power came online. 

”Looks like the energy interfered with the power. We’ve got emergency power, but that’s all we’ve got right now.” The ensign at helm answered, typing quickly on the panel.  
Spock frowned, head tilting slightly at the readings he was getting. “It appears the aftershocks contained a type of EMP, though not quite as damaging. Long range sensors have also picked up the source of the energy.”

At that Kirk looked up. Finally a real answer. 

**Sickbay**  
They were only in the dark for a few moments, though for McCoy it might as well have been an eternity for all the good it did his mood. “Damn it, who they got drivin this thing.” He growled, pushing past Chekov to go check on Sulu. The pilot might be out of the worst of it, but it was best not to have him moving too much, and that included turbulence.  
Chekov trailed after him, not entirely sure of his welcome and knowing full well he should be heading back to the bridge, but he at least needed to _see_ Karu. He trusted McCoy when he said the pilot was stable, but it would ease his own mind if he could make sure of it himself.

Much to his relief, Hikaru was awake as they entered. McCoy walked swiftly over, laying a hand on Sulu’s shoulder to forestall him attempting to get up. “Don’t move. You just had surgery, so don’t think about getting up. Just stay still and lemme check you over.” McCoy ordered. Were it anyone else, he might not have felt the need to reiterate three times the need for Sulu to remain laying down. 

McCoy glanced over at the door to see Chekov still hovering there and rolled his eyes. Kid was like a puppy. “You wanna explain what happened, might keep him still for once in his life.” He snapped, looking back at his medical supplies and pulling out a scanner to make sure nothing had gone wrong and there were no complications.  
Chekov gladly moved forward to stand on Sulu’s other side, grinning widely as the pilots gaze drifted to him. He relaxed a bit at seeing Chekov, blinking slowly and laying still as McCoy had directed and waiting for Chekov to explain what had happened. 

The Russian did so, telling Sulu all he knew while the doctor worked. It worried Chekov that his friend did little more than listen, blinking slowly at him in a tired way. Pavel glance up at McCoy, but the doctor didn’t _seem_ worried, just concentrated. Catching his gaze, Leonard rolled his eyes and reached over to hypo Sulu again, sending the pilot back to sleep. “Don’t give me those sad eyes, he’ll be fine and back to mischief in two shakes of a sheep's tail.” He reassured gruffly, stepping back and motioning Chekov to follow. “He’s gonna be sleeping for a bit, you go on up to the bridge. Fix whatever it is that’s going on and get outta my hair. I got work to do.” 

Chekov smiled briefly at McCoy, taking the reassurance, even if the delivery was a bit sharp. The news was too good to be marred by any nervousness of McCoy.  
”Of course doctor, I’ll be on my vay.” He said, relief coloring his tone. He left sickbay, heading to the bridge. 

**On the Bridge**  
Chekov stepped out of the lift in time to hear Kirk sigh. The captain rubbed a hand down his face, standing in front of Spock. “Ok, for those of us who are _not_ quite so proficient in science, what does that all mean?”

Kirk glanced at Chekov as the navigator took his station, giving the kid a nod before returning his attention to Spock and waiting for an explanation that made sense. Glad he hadn’t missed any answers, Chekov kept his eyes on his station, though he was all ears for what Spock had to say.

The Vulcan paused, considering how best to explain. “If my readings and calculations are correct,” he began, starting over with his explanation though this time favoring a less detailed and scientific statements. “Roughly three light-years away, in a section of the nebula we had been assigned to explore, is where the energy wave originated.” 

”Yeah, yeah, Spock. I got that part already. Just tell me what it was.” Kirk said impatiently, waving a hand to get him to move along to what he _actually_ wanted to know.  
Spock paused, giving Kirk a disapproving look before resuming. “The source of the energy appears to be the result of two sun’s colliding.” He stated blandly.

Spock let Kirk look at him blankly for a moment before going back to his original train of thought. “Scans had previously reported the presence of black hole in that section of the nebula. The radiation signatures left on the hull of the ship indicate the wave was formed from a star colliding with a cold burning star.”

”Wait, what?” Kirk said, confusion twisting his expression. “What do you mean a cold star?”

Chekov twisted around in his chair at that, too intrigued to stay out of the conversation any longer. “A cold star is one vhich burns cold, Sir.” He explained.

Spock inclined his head slightly, taking in the Ensign’s words. “A great simplification, but an adequate description.” He agreed, looking back at Kirk. Chekov beamed a little at the praise, because coming from Spock that was praise.

”And how did that make that energy?” Kirk huffed, crossing his arms. Enemy ships and targeted attacks he could deal with, but a completely natural occurrence wasn’t some problem he could solve, and it was a bit irritating given how much damage had been done.

”The force result from the collision was due to the different fuel sources each sun used to burn. The resulting shock wave from the reaction of the extreme temperatures likely destroyed any planetary bodies in its immediate area, the force of it dissipating as the energy traveled.” Spock theorized, glancing at the panel briefly to confirm some of the readings. “The energy from the wave will be depleted well before it reaches Starbase 32, and the source will likely be consumed by the black hole in a matter of days. A more precise estimate would require a closer view of the phenomenon.”

Kirk shook his head slightly, leaning back in his chair and glancing at helm as he tried to take it all in. Much as he knew his first officer would just love a chance to study this thing, he wasn’t about to take a ship with such low hull integrity anywhere near a black hole. “Send a message to base 32, see if they can spare a science vessel to go study it. I’m sure you can talk your way on board.” He said, grinning slightly at Spock. 

The Vulcan merely raised an eyebrow, then nodded slightly. To his knowledge, Starfleet had never encountered this event before, and it was of great interest to him. He would take the opportunity to study it if he could.

“Status?” Kirk asked the lieutenant who had taken over for Sulu.

”All systems are operational, warp is ready at you orders sir.” 

”Good, let’s get outta here.” Kirk replied, ready to get his ship fixed and back to the mission. It would be at least another three days before they made it back, given they had to travel at a lower warp and they’d been two days out when all this had happened. After that, it would be at least another week for repairs. Bones would be happy with the extra time for all his patients to recover without even the temptation of them going back on duty. 

Fully repaired and resupplied once more, they would be able to get back to their mission; to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.


End file.
